Lucy and Natsu's Epic Detour
by swanstan
Summary: Based on the novel Amy and Roger's Epic Detour, Lucy Heartfilia finds herself stuck moving to Crocus with her dad. When her dad asks her to fly out, she convinces him it's better to drive. Just one problem, she doesn't drive. She had no idea what to expect when a pink haired dude with a cat on his shoulders grabs her hand leading her to a road trip she'll remember for a lifetime.
1. Prologue - Lucy in the sky with Diamonds

**So this is based on the book,** ** _Amy and Roger's Epic Detour_ by Morgan Matson.** **If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it! I thought it was so perfect for these two characters, especially Lucy. This story will have similar attributes of the book (such as the playlist and instead of the travel journal, it's just Lucy's notebook in which Natsu highjacked for his playlists haha) but will totally be different. It's a Modern AU with Fiore as the country, Northern Continent and some manga spoiler country mentions as well.**

 **Image credit to Elvia Garcia, I found this off on google, feel free to message if you want me to take it down. :)**

 **Beta shout out goes to my taco buddy Amber aka sentbyfools on here. She inspired me to get back into writing, we met thru OUAT/Captain Swan fandom.** **She's a brilliant fic writer, go check her out!**

 **This story is rated M, I will give you a warning in the future for mature scenes. Anyway, sorry I love explaining things so without further ado, here's the (very short) prologue (the future chapters will be longer don't worry).**

* * *

Prologue – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (aka Lucy's letter)

 _ **Somebody calls you,**_

 _ **you answer quite slowly,**_

 _ **a girl with kaleidoscope eyes.**_

 ** _Lucy in the sky with Diamonds – The Beatles_**

* * *

" _Mama, why do stars shine?"_

" _They shine because they want to be seen."_

" _Why mama?"_

" _So we can be happy."_

" _I'm happy with you mama."_

" _And I you, my starry eyed Lucy."_

* * *

Lucy woke up with a jump and gathered her surroundings with hazy eyes. "Ugh, I haven't dreamed about that in awhile," she thought sadly.

She rubbed her eyes lazily and got up staring at her desk. "It's been too long since I've done this." She grabbed some of her stationary paper and letter, she looked out in the yard and sighed. "Here goes nothing," she said and began to write.

 _Dear Mama,_

 _It's been awhile, huh? I was a bit busy, sorry. Dad has me doing several things at once and I lost track of time, I would be too tired to start a letter at the end of the day. With all these things, it's been pretty stressful so I'm sorry, mama. I haven't been able to look up at your stars lately because of all this. For starters, Dad is planning to move over to Crocus. He said it's to "promote a new start", but you and me both know that's just avoiding certain things. Of course, he has me busier than a bee. I'm spending my summer after high school packing up my things, overseeing the company a bit while he plans to expand it over to the Northern Continent! Thus the Crocus deal Merger with the Junelles._

 _They have some of their industry over there as well. After this summer ends, I'm also supposed to go to Crocus University to study business. Oh mama, you know this isn't what I want. Of course, Dad doesn't want to see that. He doesn't want me to write for a living. He'd rather have his only child be in charge of a train company she could care less about. I wish to live on my own. To have an adventure. Well, that's not in the cards for poor lucky Lucy Heartfilia._

 _I wish you were here to help..._

 _but you are not..._

 _and that's my fault._

 _Oh well._

 _With all my love, your Lucy._

* * *

A knock broke Lucy out of her reverie.

"Ms. Lucy?" she heard Mrs. Spetto's soft voice through the door.

"Yes, just a minute, Mrs. Spetto."

She folded up the letter and closed it with her seal. She pulled out a box under her desk and placed the letter inside along with the others. She quickly wiped her tears away, and got up from her seat. She cleared her throat, looked at herself in the long mirror near her dresser.

"Well... it could be much better..." she said as she looked herself up and down observing her curves, and pinched her cheeks to gain some color back again. She blew out a breath, "Okay, let's get everything done with." as she straightened out her clothes.

She walked over opening the door to Mrs. Spetto's blooming smile.

"Well Ms. Lucy, it's time to start your day!" Mrs. Spetto walked away knowing Lucy would follow.

"Oh well, another day bites the dust," she said with a sad smile, shutting door, and following her maid.


	2. Chapter 1 - Dreams

**A/N: Hello all, welcome to my first multi-chapter fic. To start with, I'm going to explain the basics, this is set in Modern AU based on the novel in the summary. There will be similar things from Fairy Tail and the novel in this chapter, but it'll be set very differently if that makes since. If you haven't read the novel, I do highly recommend it, it's a good read especially for the summer. This fic is rated M, there will be mature scenes later in this fic. I'll give you a warning then. Betaed by my taco buddy Amber aka sentbyfools, she's awesome, go check her out. [Edited Jan 25, 2016]**

Disclaimer: I owned nothing, only Hiro Mashima.

 **Also you'll see a playlist made by Natsu (props to the novel for this awesome idea), in this chapter at the end.**

 _I want more, Impossible to ignore, Impossible to ignore..._

 _and they'll come true, impossible not to do, impossible not to do..._

 _Dreams by the Cranberries_

* * *

"Ms. Lucy?" The second time Ms. Spetto asked for Lucy in the day was after lunch where she was still in the dining room with Capricorn.

Lucy was going over her mom's charity which was a personal project that she held dear to her heart and held off for ages – with the move and all. Her butler Capricorn, a close friend and former personal assistant to her mom was reviewing with her and gave her the details. Both her and Capricorn looked up to see Ms. Spetto with a nervous expression on her face and landline phone on her hand.

"It's Mr. Heartfilia, Ms. Lucy, he wants to speak with you." Lucy nearly dropped her jaw in shock, and looked over Capricorn who sat beside her with nearly the same expression. Her eyes widened as she had just seen the normally stoic Capricorn having an actual surprised look on his face.

This meant that her father who hadn't spoken to her on the phone since... well it had been awhile, _actually_ wanted to speak to her on the _phone_. She broke out of her thought and walked over to Ms. Spetto as gracefully as she could, as if her father was there.

Then she basically ran out of the room to find a subtle corner of privacy because he was not one for patience.

Lucy found and sat in comfortable private spot that overlooked the garden and beyond. Her father droned on about the company's stock and information she "needs to know" for the future. "Lucy, I also want you to come over within a week to meet with the Junelles as well." Lucy paused for a second; she was almost at the point of talking back to him when she realize it's _her father_ she's dealing with.

She took a second to breathe in and gathered her thoughts. "When do you want me to depart father?" in her most genuine tone, even though she swore she sounded a bit snobby – but this was for his benefit whether she liked it or not.

"By tomorrow at the latest."

She nodded even though she knew he wasn't there. She felt judged by her father even when she was on the phone with him. "Okay, Father, but can I make a request with that, I know you'd want me to fly out there but you see-"

"Lucy," he said in a demanding tone. "We have no time for requests, I want you to be prepared for this. Sawarr, the heir to the Junelle company will be there to oversee-"

She cringed a little at his tone but continued on, "I'm sorry, father, but I thought I would make a drive out to the country. I promised Princess Jade to pay a visit at her private villa within this week." She accidentally interrupted her father and she hated doing so, but the sudden pause wasn't as worrisome as she thought.

"Oh, why didn't you say anything? I'm sure it'll be a good promotional affair." Lucy rolled her eyes. "Be sure to contact our publicist for the details and check with-"

Lucy internally sighed and interrupted him again, wanting to get off of the phone before she became annoyed, _again_. "Will do, father, but it'll be a bit private, I'll post pictures on instagram and share a few tweets. Sorry, father, but due to the rush, I must pack up a few more clothes for the journey." That and a text from Jade for a visit to her villa.

"Sure, Lucy, I will be setting off as well for my next meeting. Goodbye."

He hung up on her before she got a word out as she expected. She blew out a sigh, and gazed around her surroundings. She chose this place for a reason, hidden in a small corner in the mansion. The sun was about to set. From a distance, she could see her mom's grave in a warm glowing tone from the setting sun.

Lucy refused to look up at the stars. She drew her curtains closed the instant it became dark. She had a nightlight to ward off the darkness the night had spread. Sometimes when her insomnia kicked in, she'd have her lamp on while she read or watched something on Netflix. Tonight though, she had a letter to write.

 _Dear Mama,_

 _I was sure that father was going to be busy with the Junelles on his own. Of course that is not the case, I have to leave by tomorrow "at the latest"; his words of course._

 _But I have a secret, mama. I lied to him. I owe Jade a favor now. Not even a second after my text to Jade, I got a phone call from her! She was laughing at my sudden rebellious behavior and was proud of it, I think. I was really surprised about her instant response too. Arcadios must have let her have time to herself now._

 _Of course, I have to drive out to Magnolia to see her; I don't know how that's going to happen but I'll make the most of it._

 _Sorry, mama, for not looking at the stars, but they aren't the same; not without you._

 _I guess you can blame me for that..._

 _With all my love, Lucy._

Tears were streaming down Lucy's cheeks; she rubbed both her fists against her eyes, and wished they would go away. But they wouldn't, not when she was branded with guilt and pain.

Suddenly, her eyes started closing against her will, and out of habit, she shut off the lamp. Then she instantly fell asleep on her desk with the letter still open. The crescent moon made a glowing appearance from her window into her room, shining almost ethereally against her golden locks; like it was watching over her.

Lucy woke up with her eyes feeling as if they were taped shut. It was all that crying that made them sticky. "Ugh, gross." Her voice was still a bit scratchy from sleep and crying. She rubbed her eyes again to get out that glucky mess in her eyes and then gazed through her window.

It was pre-dawn, the cool tones of the night softened and were nearing the warm tones of the sunrise. She placed her hand against her chin and sighed. This was the closest she'd ever get to looking at the night again. She sat there for a bit, just gazing at the sky brightening a bit and made a sigh of relief.

She was okay. She was going to start a new day again.

But this day would be different, she knew it. She instantly gathered her bath things as quickly as she could and ran to the bathroom.

After all, she needed to get out on her own adventure before her life went to hell.

Lucy left a letter to the staff of the house, who were on the move to Crocus to assure them that she would be alright and that she had a ride over to Jade's villa, courtesy of the princess herself. Another lie, but, hey, texting was a great tool for this.

She also told them not to bother her father (which of course she knew they wouldn't) about this because, and she quoted, "Father knows about this ride and was happy to hear that the princess of this country invited her over." She snorted when she wrote this in the letter. She loved saying these little white lies; it just made her swoon.

In fact, she wasn't really lying, she was masquerading the truth; she couldn't help but giggle at that. So, with the funds she'd withdrawn in the past for emergency in her purse, a backpack,a carry on bag, and her handy cellphone in her pocket, she set off walking towards the nearest train station.

Thank god for Google maps or else she would have been lost.

The train station was a mile north of the property. She breathed in the morning dew, and set off north to her freedom (well only for a bit).

She finally arrived at the station a little out of breath. It was nothing short of 8AM. She filed in her mind that walking should be more in her health regime in the future. She went to go pay her ticket with her jewels for the 8:15 Magnolia train and waited off to the side, sitting down in a huff. "It's just a start of an adventure Lucy, no backing out now. Not when you have everything planned," she muttered to her doubtful mind.

The train arrived not a minute later, and she rush-walked over to find a good seat even though there were few people in the station with her. She found an awesome seat and she hoped she could see the scenery. She gathered her breath, and suddenly felt a wave of an exhaustion hit her and in an instant, she fell asleep. Lucy was dead to the world when the train conductor announced what town they were heading to: it was East to Hargeon, not West to Magnolia.

" _So mama..." Lucy, nearly 10 years old, said._

" _9 and a quarter!" she once claimed to her friend Loke, who teased her about not being 10 yet._

 _Lucy looked up from playing with her spirit dolls to see her mother pause from writing her notes, smiling at her._

" _Yes my star?"_

 _Lucy looked down to her dolls Leo and Aries."What is love?" She didn't see her mother's reaction but she could feel her mother's smile soften and her eyes focused outside the window._

" _Well, Lucy, it's a strange thing."_

 _Lucy made a face, looking at her mother like she was befuddled by her response._

" _Strange? Why?"_

 _Her mom's smile was worth the sun._

" _Because of how you feel!" She laughed. "It's a feeling you get that can be unexplained and yet you feel it in your heart, your soul, basically everywhere!"_

 _Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing._

" _It's something that can't be seen, but it's there. It's always going to be there for you, my star."_

 _Lucy smiled widely at her mama like she was a star herself. "You really think so, Mama?"_

 _Her mom gave her a serious look and nodded. "My star, I know so, and you should never doubt that..."_

Lucy woke up from her impromptu nap with the memory of her dream drifting away. She sat up straight to look out the window to see the scenery.

"Water? Why am I seeing water outside and it looks so vast?" She put in her mind that she was seeing a lake, but there wasn't any huge lake on her way to Magnolia... only a river.

"Well it can't be that big..."

The train announcement broke her confused thoughts. "Last Stop, Hargeon Port."

Her mind went blank after that announcement.

"Shit."

After, she argued with the station employee about the next train to Magnolia being set till tomorrow due to repairs to the railway over.

She cursed her father for probably making the repair date today and thought about the karma that had struck her for this selfish adventure.

She forlornly walked over to the town with her (heavy) luggage and her phone leading her to a good restaurant to eat at. She looked down on her phone, seeing it at 50%; it really needed a charge. Google maps just ate away the battery.

She finally saw the square where the restaurant resided, and turning the corner towards her destination, she was swarmed by a crowd of girls and several boys.

There were crowding around someone who was making them swoon in delight. Lucy was unable to hear who they were dying over. She just wanted to get something to eat, damn it! She tried to drift away from the crowd when they pushed her more into the middle.

"Seriously?" She tried elbowing her way back, but it was too strong.

She found herself pushed to the middle to see a tanned man (could be fake) with a purple pompadour winking at her. _"What the fuck?"_ she thought _"Why do I get into these messes?"_ The crowd then pushed her on the ground, scraping her knees and hands. _"Ugh, why?"_

She heard a voice above her. "Ladies, and men," he said, adding men as an after thought, "There's enough to go around. No need to injure each other! Here," Purple Pompadour reached out his hand to help her up. She looked up to see his brown eyes smiling at her.

She was at a loss. "Umm thanks..."

She started to reach for his hand when a really loud voice from the crowd screamed "Igneel!" and made her look over. It was a boy close to her age with a bluish grey cat and a scarf (wasn't it 90 degrees?) on his shoulders and the biggest grin.

Her first thought of the boy was " _Huh, pink hair._ "

The boy was instantly beat up by the crowd after he "rudely" said something to Purple Pompadour. It wasn't that rude, Lucy thought, he was just asking who he was.

The cat must have known this would happen because he jumped away from his owner a second before it started. _"Sheesh, rude cat. He could have warned the owner by clawing him at least."_

She got up by herself when Purple Pompadour – or "Salamander" as the crowd called him – was telling them to stop beating the pink haired boy up and that and, she'd quote, "He's ignorant about me, don't mind him." During that time, she fixed herself up, a bit relieved that the crowd was distracted for once while she cleaned her wounds.

A BMW SUV then pulled up taking the rude dick away from the crowd as they also ran towards the SUV. He yelled out an invite to a local club around 6, and that they should all be there. That finally left her alone and she finished up. Then she saw that she wasn't really alone. The pink haired boy still lay on the side near the trash and the rude cat licked himself with a bored expression. The pink haired boy sat up from the ground, seemingly unfazed by the crowd's beatings.

He commented in the direction of where the SUV was driving away.

"What a prick."

That made Lucy look down at him and smile,"I know right?"

The boy looked surprised to see her standing over him. Even the cat was surprised.

"Hi, I'm Lucy and I want to thank you for being ignorant about that purple pompadoured prick."

That made the pink haired guy snort.

Lucy found herself paying for the pink haired guy and rude cat's - he said his name was Natsu and the cat Happy – lunch. She hated seeing the display of hate over an attention whoring selfish prick, especially towards herself and Natsu.

Plus, she was kind of hungry and 8islands was right in front of them. It would be harshly against her morals to leave the guy behind anyway. Although, she wished she did; he ate like a dragon.

Both Natsu and his cat were scarfing down their food like starving people. She never seen a horrifying sight of bad manners in her life, she was sure that her etiquette teacher would have fainted if he seen this grotesque sight. She was telling him about her misadventure with the wrong train while he was eating up a storm.

He did a few occasional nods and "uh huh and oh's" while she spoke on but she was sure he was barely listening until the point she said where she was now here eating with them. The cat meowed at her like she was annoying and Natsu said "Oh, yeah?"

Lucy shook her head and breathed out an exasperated sigh. "Well, I must get going. It was nice to meet you, Natsu." She got up and laid the jewels on the table that she was grateful didn't make a dent out of her funds.

She went towards the exit when she saw the waitress make a shocked face, staring behind her. Natsu was bowing to her (with his cat on his shoulders oddly looking like he was bowing, too).

"Thank you for the food!" he yelled out enthusiastically, and even Happy meowed like he was well... _happy_.

She felt herself sweat a little and nervously uttered out "It was no problem at all, Natsu and... Happy. There is no need to thank me."

Natsu looked up and gave her the biggest grin, and she left with that grin sticking to her mind the rest of the day.

Not too long after, Lucy went ahead and sat herself on a bench, still trying to catch her breath from the day she was having. She couldn't believe it was only after 1pm; it felt like it was so long since she left her old home. She grabbed the magazine she bought at the station earlier and flipped through the magazine to see her favorite model Mirajane Strauss. The model went to the famous Magnolia University, where the fairies resided. Not real fairies, but their mascot.

The school was famous for its free thinkers. It had an array of majors and was very open with its education. It was also known for its parties and the amazing alumni that went there. The well known world MMA champion Gildarts Clive went there and often went back to help out with the students. Even the twins Grandine and Porlyusica Marvel. One twin was a famous pediatrician at Magnolia U hospital and the other twin was a world known diagnostician in Edolas Medical Center. They both were exclusive alumni and occasionally would visit - at least Grandine would. Porlyusica was an misanthrope from what people gathered.

It was also a university that Lucy wished to go to, but her father denied her request.

He'd rather have at her his alma mater in Crocus. Even the University was lack luster with its alumni, only her father and a few business folk who Lucy could have done without.

Even Sawarr was going there and that lessened her interest to a full on flop.

Her father told her, "No _Heartfilia_ would go to a unknown school out in the _boonies_." She was surprised he said "boonies" to be honest, and it was not a word he should say out in public anyway.

Even if it was actually a great one that rivaled Crocus' in academics and actually had a better athletic curriculum. Her father spoke like a true Sabertooth, ignorant about other schools and pompous about their own. She sighed, shaking her head at these thoughts.

Well, who was paying for her schooling? He was and it was completely unfair. She gazed back at Mira's eyes and wished she could be like her, modeling for fun while studying business. Basically, without her father to tell her what to do. She uttered out loud, "I wish I could go there, this school seems like so much fun."

Leaves crunched nearby, but she was so into her thoughts she didn't hear it.

"Go where?"

Lucy just sighed, "Magnolia University. I would love to see it at least once. Damn train track, why repair now out of all days?"

She then realized she wasn't talking to herself, and that voice wasn't her thoughts.

She stared up to see where the voice came from; it was the one person she didn't want to see again and he was smirking as if he owned the place. "Hello, we meet again."

Lucy squinted at him. _"To my displeasure,"_ she thought in disdain.

"I was wondering if you would like to join me at my party in docks? I invited a few earlier but never got your response."

Lucy tsked at his invite and rolled her eyes in disgust – she was bound to get a headache later after all of this.

"Yeah, you sure are a creep. Why would I want to go to a party of yours?" The pompadoured prick looked affronted about her calling him a creep, but then recovered with a more slimy smirk than before. "Don't know who I am, sweetie?"

Lucy looked up and down, "No?"

This time the prick didn't care to look insulted. "Do you know Salamander of Fairy Tail?" Lucy looked shocked. Of course she knew. Fairy Tail was the nickname of Magnolia U. She had no clue how that nickname came about, something about the founder…?

But Salamander, he was a well known MMA champion of the college championships. Capricorn was a huge fan of his and often watched his fights when he had time off. She never got a chance to see them, but she heard they were epic. He was known for his love of fire as well. This guy said he was him, so she instantly went to double check on her phone, finding it dead. "Oh crap." She must have forgot. 8islands had a wireless charger system but she was distracted by Natsu and his cat's _incredible_ eating to start with.

Salamander smirked a little. "No worries, I'll show you. My trophies are at the club."

Lucy shook her head, feeling really done with the day, "Why should I go? I'd rather find a hotel and sleep for the rest of the night." She didn't look happy to do so. She still needed to text Jade about this little mishap of a trip and she was hoping to get her phone charged at the hotel.

"But don't you want to go to Magnolia?"

She looked a little nerved."Yes, so what?" strange look came across his face, "Well, I'm also going back there by plane. My sponsors are awesome people, they let me use their planes free of charge!" He said so indignantly. "I'm sure you prefer that over having to wait the next day." Lucy pondered it. It did help to have a 4 hour plane ride to Magnolia than to have the all day train ride she was supposed to be at today. She didn't want her father to know about this either.

Of course, she didn't want to have to deal with this bastard. Oh fuck it, might as well. If he tried anything, she'd pepper spray the bastard. Then she'd use her self defense moves that Cap taught her, no matter if this dude was a famous fighter or not. She also could charge her phone before she got there and text Jade and her friend Yukino.

"Oh alright, I'll come. Don't try anything bastard. I'll make your life hell." The prick gave a genuine smile for once, or at least it seemed genuine. "No worries, it will be fun!"

Lucy found herself alone at the VIP room of a warehouse club dressed to the nines. She was lucky she had a few nice dresses in her carry on bag. She went to a nice bathhouse nearby to get ready, and she'd asked the owner nicely if she could use their lockers to hold her luggage until she was ready to go. The elderly owner happily obliged with a little extra cost. She was lucky enough to charge her phone there, too.

Salamander gave her the address when he took his leave in that BMW SUV that appeared like magic. The address was pretty far since it was at the docks. She wouldn't be happy walking with heels so she got a cab on the way over.

Now, she was waiting for Salamander to make an appearance. He said she shouldn't have a problem entering; everyone was invited. Everyone meaning just women and his guards salivating over them. She rolled her eyes. These men were obviously straight and had very exclusive tastes.

She was instantly escorted through the VIP lounge where Salamander said she wouldn't be bothered. Maybe he knew her age or something. She was about to search the man on her phone when the asshole made his appearance. "Lucy! So glad that you are here!" He was still as slimy as ever.

Why did she come here again? Oh yeah, she was _desperate_. Then she realized something was wrong. "Wait, how did you know my name?"

Salamander blinked, surprised that she pointed it out, then recovered. "Oh it was on your carry on label."

She looked at him suspiciously and decided to question him about their departure.

"Oh in a few hours. I still have to entertain the guests you know."

The man went off to get the drinks when Lucy decided to text Yukino about her sucky trip so far.

 **Yukino [6:32]: Wow, that seems like an adventure. You are so lucky as ever Lucky Lucy.**

 **Lucy [6:33]: ha ha ha, you think you are funny. Yeah I'm not enjoying myself. I'm stuck with this slimy perv because I want to get out of here quick before father knows.**

 **Yukino [6:35]: Why didn't you request a ride from Jade?**

 **Lucy [6:38]: Oh I didn't want to bother Jade, plus I don't want to cause a scene as it is.**

 _ **Yukino is typing...**_

That's when the prick came back with the drinks. "Here you go Lucy. I hope you like wine."

He gave her a glass, and she set it down, disinterested. "On occasion, but I don't really drink."

Salamander smiled and raised his glass. "Well this occasion calls for it, _Lucy Heartfilia_."

Suddenly her heart dropped to the stomach. He knew who she was.

"Oh no! Did I make a mistake? Oh well, I know who you are and you are going to help me."

She was getting chills and she was scared out of her mind. She was surprised how calm her voice was when she asked "How?"

Then several men appeared behind from a curtain ready to gang up on her if she ran off.

"You're a famous face of course! Your father _is_ in charge of the _biggest_ railway company in Fiore."

He held out his phone to show the article with Lucy in her formal gown that her father made her wear in the photoshoot. The headline read: _Heartfilias heading to Crocus!_

Lucy looked defeated. "What do you want?"

This bastard resorted to blackmail. She knew she had to get out of it, but how?

Salamander's smirks finally made a reappearance and it was really disgusting.

"What you think? _Money_!"

Lucy was stuck. She didn't know what to do with this asshole. All she wanted was a little freedom, was that too much for her? No! Apparently she'd sinned and rebelled badly. It was as if she was made for this fucked up life where she had to work in the family business and marry an asshole who was so damn pompous.

Two of Salamander's guards grabbed a hold of her and one got her phone and purse. Salamander told the guard with her phone to call her father for the ransom.

That's when an explosion shook the building.

Salamander screamed out, "What the fuck is going on?"

One of the guards from outside ran in the VIP lounge panting and a bit scared of his life. "Sir, there is a kid with-" The guard was kicked to the side by the intruder.

The hallway was dark so all they could see was a dark shadow and, oddly enough, red eyes.

Every guard including Salamander took on a defensive stance and they looked a bit scared. The light came back on in the hallway. It was Natsu in his pink haired glory with his cat on his shoulders and scaly scarf, and he looked supremely pissed.

"Who the fuck are you?" Salamander yelled out.

Lucy rolled her eyes. Of course the asshole didn't remember him. How could he not though? The dude had pink hair and his cat was nearly blue. How could he not know?

Natsu muttered something they couldn't hear, and stared dangerously at Salamander. The guards were shaking a little, but still ready to pounce.

Salamander came a little closer from his spot, "Say that again?"

Natsu wasn't having it. " _Fairy Tail_."

That's when all hell broke loose.

Happy ran at an instant towards Lucy. She grabbed the cat and stepped aside. Natsu went at it with the guards, kicking and punching. He knew what he was doing alright, he knocked those guards out after hitting their pressure points. Everyone else went on the defensive after that.

Natsu fought offensively. He was really pissed about whatever Salamander did. Lucy watched in shock.

Natsu then knocked out the bastard who grabbed her phone earlier. She ran over to the unconscious guard, holding Happy protectively.

"I don't care if you are a good or a bad guy. You insult _Fairy Tail_ , you insult _me_!"

He then took off his jacket, revealing a strange red tattoo on his right shoulder.

She heard her phone vibrate. She grabbed her phone from the guard's pocket, seeing Yukino's text on her lock screen. She unlocked it to see the full text.

 **Yukino [6:41]: Oh Lucy you know Jade wouldn't mind, she could be subtle you know, she's the damn princess of the country. I'll talk to Jade about it if you want.**

 **[6:44] I looked up Salamander, oh my, he's great looking, why didn't you tell me?! [sad face emoticon]**

 **[6:52] Also he doesn't seem like an egotistical asshole in the articles, maybe it's a front and he's revealing his true self to you?**

 **[6:54] Okay he looks cute right here. [picture]**

It was Natsu, well Natsu making a silly face towards the camera and his finger pointing up at something; holy shit, Natsu was the _real_ Salamander!

Then one of the guards noticed it too, "Bora, he's the real thing, look at that tattoo. He's the Salamander of Fairy Tail."

Bora didn't look too pleased to hear his identity revealed."Goddamn it, you _fool_ , we have a Heartfilia here! Now she knows who I am!" He wasn't even bothering to see if she was still there or not. He was hiding behind his guards, the coward.

She typed up Bora + Fighter on Google and was shocked to see him as a underground illegal MMA fighter after he was kicked out the league for trying to bite off a guy's nose. "Ugh, okay, that's really gross." She stared up to see Natsu finally confronting Bora, with his guards who were protecting him knocked out. Now, they both engaged in a fight and it looked like Bora was losing just barely. The man could cover his tracks good but Natsu was not having it.

Most of the guards were unconscious due to Natsu's rage. Some of them hid or even ran off. No one wants to fight the real deal, that's for sure.

Lucy was at a loss. She could run if she wanted to.

When she tried, one of the coward guards grabbed a hold of her, about to yell out to Bora about her escape.

Lucy was not happy about that. She channeled her energy, and then kicked the guard in the nuts. The guard's scream was so high that it distracted Bora. Seriously, dogs were probably howling from that scream.

That's when Natsu made the final knockout punch to Bora's head.

"That's for shaming Fairy Tail, prick!" He was panting, looking a bit mussed up.

He then looked at the surroundings with an angry scowl.

When he directed that look at Lucy, she was a bit rebuffed by it, and in her inner most thoughts, a little _turned on_.

Natsu proceeded to grin, "Hey! What are you doing here?"

Okay that simmered the attractiveness a bit, so she thought, that grin was still something.

Then sirens filled the air, Natsu looked a bit scared. "Oh shit, the cops! We have to run!" He grabbed ahold of Lucy's hand and ran towards what looked like the back way.

"Wait! Hold on! Natsu, I'm in heels!"

Lucy's heels were now off thankfully and they made it safely out of the club within a block away. She was panting like crazy. Natsu seemed like an insane ball of energy. Happy actually fell asleep on her arms on the way over; he was such a strange cat.

She caught her breath and broke the silence "Okay, I'm sure we're safe from the cops. What was that explosion?"

"Umm..." Natsu looked a little sheepish at that.

Lucy was taken aback. "That was _you_?"

He actually puffed up his chest in confidence."Yeah, I may have gotten a little too pissed but hey they _insulted_ Fairy Tail, so why the fuck not?"

Lucy just couldn't believe it and tried to get her head to explain what happened back there. "I don't know. They will want to find out who created that mess. Although, Bora is wanted for his illegal fighting. Let's hope that distracts them a little."

Natsu snorted, "I didn't even know who that was."

Lucy made an exasperated sigh. She was just really done with everything right now. Of course Natsu didn't know who Bora was and what he was doing. He just seemed to pissed about people using his face for bad pretenses or at least his _school_. At least, that's the gist she got from the whole thing.

She decided to go. "Well, now I should head on out."

Natsu gave her a befuddled look, as she gave Happy back and got her phone to see where they were at.

"Wait."

She looked up confused.

"Aren't you heading out to Magnolia?"

She stared at him curiously. "Yeah why?"

That grin came back. He seemed like happy-go-lucky person, when no one was insulting his school.

"Why don't you come with me? I'm about to head back myself!"

Lucy was a little surprised. He didn't seem interested in her, to be honest. "Really? I mean, that would be great, but I'm kind of in a hurry plus I barely know you..."

He shrugged it off, "Don't worry about it! You seem nice and this is my payback for the food you gave me!"

He grabbed her hand again, the second time in a hour. This guy seemed a bit touchy feely and always in your space.

She really didn't mind it though and that's what scared her.

"Natsu! Wait! Where are we going?"

Natsu stared back and smiled, "To _The Dragon_ , of course!" was his response. They ran back towards the club, wondering if he was referencing another club or his own dick. Either way, she's not really trusting this dude and pretty much curious why she thought of his dick when he didn't seem point it out?

This night was just too much for her to take.

Both Natsu and Lucy were running – again much to her chagrin – and appearing in their sights was a little red Honda Civic parked nearby.

Natsu was heading straight for it; Lucy was relieved and then cursed that her thoughts were too imaginative. Her etiquette teacher would probably be in a coma from how much cursing and bad thoughts that happened within the last several hours. It was a long day, very _long_ to Lucy's standards. She needed to gain some patience with the crap she'd dealt with, and by gods' cursing does help a little.

They made it to the car. Natsu pointed at his car and spread his arms wide "This is the Dragon!" He then kissed his vehicle gratefully, setting off the lock mechanism and got in enthusiastically. Lucy looked inside and then gasped to see what a huge mess it was. Her eyes were huge circles, seeing all the fast food bags from McDonalds and Long John Silver's nearly covering the entire car.

Natsu threw the bags from the front seat to the back and patted the seat for her to get in. She shook her head, hoping it didn't smell too bad.

Surprisingly it didn't. It actually smelled like a campfire; that was the scent of the air freshener on the front mirror and Lucy thought it was probably Natsu's scent as well.

Natsu was about to turn on the ignition when Lucy stopped him. "Wait, before we go, I need to get my things."

She was still indecisive about all of this.

Natsu nodded. "Okay where to?"

She gave Natsu the directions to the bathhouse and he drove there pretty well within the speed limit, to Lucy's surprise.

She then quickly texted both Yukino and Jade about her escapade with Natsu and Bora.

 **Lucy [7:53]: I'll give you both more details when I catch my breath.**

* * *

Lucy got her things from the locker and took another bath from the griminess of night. Finally, she felt comfortable with her regular clothes. She thanked the nice elderly owner for holding her luggage and headed off back to Natsu's car. She stopped to see a very adorable sight. Natsu was playing a game on a Nintendo 4DS with his tongue out indicating his concentration, and Happy watching him from his shoulders.

She was still a little afraid about this road trip, and she'd spent her time in the bath thinking about the pros and cons of this trip. She decided it was the best case scenario to take the train the next day and sleep off the horribly long day at a hotel.

But looking at the pink haired kid, who was her age, if not older, he didn't seem too bad. Of course he had a violent streak but he had a good reason. He was actually sweet towards her and wasn't harmful like Bora. And he said he still owed her for the food she kindly gave him, although she thought she told him that he didn't owe her a thing.

She was pacing back and forth with these thoughts not noticing that Natsu saw her and got out of the car to see what she was doing.

"Luigi?"

That made Lucy stop in her tracks."What did you say?"

Natsu looked a bit confused by her abrupt reaction. "Luigi, what's wrong?"

There was an awkward pause between them; Lucy was annoyed while Natsu was genuinely even more confused than before.

"That's not my name!"

She was frankly a little pissed. This night was worst for wear and she was just too damn tired to get through shit like this. "I'm Lucy. L-U-C-Y! Get it right!"

Natsu gave a sheepish laugh, and seemed apologetic. "Sorry, Lucy, I just noticed you were pacing a bit. What's wrong?"

She rubbed her face in exhaustion. "I'm just a little antsy and tired. I don't think this road trip is going to work out."

Natsu looked a bit upset at this,"Why not? You want to go to Magnolia don't you? You said it earlier today."

Lucy muttered out to herself, "He remembers _that_ but not my _name_." Lucy sighed; her etiquette teacher would just haunt her the rest of her days about these bad manners she was using. "Well, I thought it would be better to wait for the train tomorrow and sleep off this bad night."

Natsu looked repulsed for a second. "Why do you want to deal with that evil transportation?"

Lucy immediately thought that Natsu was probably in a train hating cult. "What do you have against trains?"

Natsu looked away, affronted, and muttered, "Nothing, they just hate me."

Lucy was sure that this kid was a bit crazy. "Okay... Can you at least give me a ride to the closest and nicest hotel?"

Natsu looked like he wanted to say something else but scratched his head and agreed. Lucy packed her bags in the shockingly clean trunk, although a bag with some fuses and lighter in the side looked worrisome.

Natsu turned the ignition and the local station came on to shroud the silence.

The DJ was currently announcing the news: "An explosion at a nearby club happened around 6 this evening. Sources say that a huge fight broke out, but they were unable to identify who caused it since the club was so dark from the explosion."

Natsu let out a sigh of relief.

"We believe that a vigilante is on the loose when Bora the infamous nose biter fighter -" Lucy snorted. "- was caught at the scene unconscious."

Natsu and Lucy looked at each other and laughed at the sheer luck they had.

Natsu drove within the streets of Hargeon, heading towards a hotel in the town square.

Lucy bit her lip in thought. A song came on after the broadcast that spoke of Dreams on the radio. It sounded so ethereal, and the lyrics spoke to her, and tugged her heartstrings, saying that she should move on with her life.

She peered over at Natsu who was humming the song. She smiled at the sight, seeing this boy who practically saved her at least one and half times today.

Then she felt her purse buzz on her lap. She got ahold of her phone, reading the text from her father detailing that she shouldn't take too long with this trip! Sawarr was glad to hear that she was moving over to Crocus this week, and wanted to speak with her in private.

Lucy shut her eyes to stop the tears from escaping. She nearly threw her phone at the dashboard when she noticed a few more texts came in earlier.

 **Yukino [8:02]: Glad that you are safe! Hope to see you soon, I'm heading over the villa as well. Say hi to the cutie for me. [wink emoticon]**

 **Jade [8:03]: The Rebellious Lucy is now your nickname. I wish I had an adventure like yours! crazy! Lucy, I will say this, if you plan to road trip with that boy, he's nothing but the sweetest according to Erza Scarlet! Arcadios knows her and is good friends with her because she's learning to be a guard at Fairy Tail too.**

 **Yukino [8:06]: Oh yeah! He's Sting's hero, I recognized his name and Sting all but screamed at me about him like a fanboy. lmao. He hopes to compete with him one day! Sting said nothing but good things about him, it's weird, he wants to fight but also is his biggest fan.**

 **Jade [8:08]: lol. I wouldn't doubt that! [smirk emoticon]**

 **[8:09]: Do it Lucy, you need this. You need this adventure you always dreamed to write about.**

 **Yukino [8:11]: I agree Lucy, I'll try to keep this from Sting, he'll die hearing this but you know you need this. Have fun and be safe!**

 **Jade [8:12]: we love you and take care! [heart] x**

Lucy was close to tears, this time in joy, as she read these heartwarming texts from her friends. They even spoke to people close to Natsu to get his background. Something told her that there was more to meet the eye with that.

They cared that much for her, and this made her decision.

She set her eyes over on Natsu, who was singing the song softly, _"although my dreams... it's never quite as it seems, never quite as it seems..."_ In her inner most thoughts, his voice was a bit magical to hear.

She noticed they were near the hotel and panicked a bit, "Umm Natsu?" He hmmed and scanned his eyes over to her. He seemed so relaxed, even his cat was sound asleep over his shoulders.

She smiled at that. _"Well it's true about cats. Lazy animals,"_ she thought and then she just felt her smile widen into a grin,"You know what? Let's go, let's take this trip!"

That's when Natsu let out a "Woop!" and carried out his signature grin that filled his face with happiness. "Oh right, let's go!" he said as he made an illegal u-turn over to the next interstate.

At the next stoplight on the way over, he sat up to get his phone out of his pocket, "Now that it's official, we need some road trip tunes!"

Two hours into the journey towards Magnolia, Natsu scanned over to her, holding the phone his lap while he drove, "So, you have any requests?"

She was enthralled by this novel about a maiden and a dragon she had in her tablet."Nothing in mind to be honest," she replied absently.

Natsu laughed a little, seeing her really interested in the novel, and just shook his head,"Oh come on Lucy, you need some tunes in your life! Just pause from your book for a second and take advantage of the tunes!"

Lucy didn't want to have this song repeated; she didn't know how Natsu was about music.

"Okay well, do you have that song from earlier about Dreams?"

Natsu looked like he was trying to remember it, "You mean on the radio? Dreams by the Cranberries?"

Lucy shrugged "I- I really don't know the band, all I know that song is so amazing! It's a great song to hear."

Natsu smiled. He didn't seem to mind, just happy she was interested."Yeah, I do have it."

Lucy smiled back, very happy that he seemed sweet about it. "Great! Then that song, Dreams!"

He scanned his phone and pressed play on the song. A sudden fade in start with guitars, bass and drums, a 30 second interlude of guitar strumming _"Oh my life... is changing everyday... every possible way..."_

A little smile appeared on Lucy's face. She peered out the window into the night where the stars looked so bright. This time, she didn't seem to know that she was gazing at them. They were these little diamonds far across the galaxy; suddenly making her eyes glow again in a way they hadn't since before her mother's passing. She was her mother's little star, just shining brightly because she was free.

 _Mama, my life has just turned upside down. A pink haired boy with a cat on his shoulders and a scarf too hot for the summer has led me into an adventure I'll remember for the rest of my life._

* * *

 **Natsu's Playlist #1 (aka Lucy needs some tunes)**

 **Sorry Lucy for highjacking your book but you got to have a playlist written down, it makes an adventure!**

 _Lights by Journey (Because you gotta have fucking Journey for Roadtrip tunes)_

 _Baba O'Reilly by The Who (does this needs to be fucking said?)_

 _Sweet Disposition by Temper Trap_

 _High by The Cure_

 _Dreams by The Cranberries (Lucy really likes this one!)_

 _Video Games by Ben Howard (Lana Del Rey cover)_

 _Blue Skies by Albert Hammond Jr.'_

 _19-2000 (remix) by Gorillaz_

 _Spread Your Love by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club_

 _All Night by Houses_

 _To Magnolia, To Fairy Tail and home, and soon, Edolas! A true adventur_ e begins!


	3. Chapter 2 - I'm like a bird

**Sorry for the lateness! Life really got in the way. Well, this chapter makes up for it, I hope you have fun reading it. :) [Edited Jan 25, 2016]**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - I'm like a Bird (Natsu likes Nelly Furtado, so does Happy, suck it Lucy)**

 _ **I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away**_

 _ **I don't know where my soul is, I don't know where my home is**_

 _ **All I need for you to know is...**_

–

 _ **Lucy's Journal Entry #1 - Road Trip Edition - "What I noticed about this rude cat!"**_

 _Dear Journal,_

 _Natsu has hijacked my previous journal for road trip use (which I'm still miffed about by the way) so I bought this one on the way out of Hargeon at a Target. We are parked in the lot while I am cooling off from the asshole behavior from Natsu. I'm surprised I'm still up, especially how stressful the previous day has been! Anyway, this is what I've noticed about Happy, Natsu's Blue Russian cat the past few hours I've been around him:_

 _1) Most of the time with him and Natsu, he's wrapped around Natsu's shoulders like a short haired furry scarf. (The bastard already has a scarf, how much heat can he take?) I commented on the cat-on-shoulder behavior earlier, "What does Happy think he is, a Parrot?" The only response I got was Natsu shrugging and saying "Arrgh!"_

 _Note_ _: The one time he finally got off was whilst we were parked at 7Eleven and he was in the back aka The Danger Zone (ugh)._

 _2) His coat is oddly blue! Like it is as gray as any Blue Russian breed but when you shine a light on this cat, his fur somewhat shimmers blue. I didn't want to add more commentary on this cat since I got a sarcastic response from Natsu the last time. Idiot._

 _3) Lastly, he seems to be chatty as a cat, and not in a good way. Meaning, he sometimes comments when I do particular things. Like, for example, I was talking to Natsu about my day so far when I bought them lunch and he meowed at me like I was annoying. Another time was when we were heading out of Hargeon, I requested to stop at the local Target after scolding Natsu about my journal, and the cat dared to scoff at me. I was flabbergasted and looked at Natsu for a response, and he seemed so nonchalant about it! This is such a rude cat!_

 _Well, that's my discourse on this road trip for now, I'm finally feeling pretty tired now, thank gods, maybe I'm recovering from prolonged shock… also I feel like this cat is staring at me from the inside. I got to go,_

 _Lucy out._

 _P.S. I need to end my journal entries with something better._

 _2 hours before_

Lucy felt her eyes shut for a quick second and peered at the dashboard clock seeing it was around 12:30AM. She'd slept 40 minutes in this trip, not even a day had passed since these epic events had occurred. She stretched herself a bit, gazing about her surroundings. She gathered she was alone in the car, with not even Happy and the rude cat scrutiny he usually gave her. She glimpsed out the window to see that they'd stopped at a _7Eleven_ with a certain pink haired individual walking the aisles. She wouldn't be caught off guard if the cashier was gawking at him like some weirdo especially with his cat and scarf in this horrendous summer heat. She snorted at the image in her head. She sat there, still disoriented from being asleep, and leaned closer towards the dashboard. She felt a strange surface next to her elbow. Her notebook was on there when it should have been on top of her bag to begin with. She opened it out of curiosity. That's when she noticed that new writing, not so messy and not so _hers_ was in it. She started to fume over.

" _Does he have no respect for privacy!?"_ She mulled over feeling irritated. Speaking of the pink haired devil, he exited the store with a bag of snacks and two drinks in his hands. He peeked inside to see her and that glorious grin made an appearance. Seemingly distracted getting in, he spoke up, not noticing the rage face Lucy was making towards him at the moment. Happy was asleep, with not a carein the world that his owner was about to get beaten up _probably_.

"Hey, you are awake! I thought you would sleep more especially after today. I got two ice coffees, they only had mocha and french vanilla, so you can pic-" He finally noticed how red and puffed up her face was; it wasn't a great sight,

"... why are you so red?"

 _30 minutes later_

After nearly 10 minutes of yelling (from Lucy) and 20 minutes of pouting at the window in silence (also Lucy), Natsu broke the ice, irked at her behavior,"Look, Lucy, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was personal, I wanted to write a list for the tunes. This is a full fledged road trip!" They were driving down the interstate in the middle of the night, and Lucy couldn't grasp why Natsu did it while Natsu hinted the opposite. Expectedly, Happy didn't seem to care about this, although he did wake up when Lucy started to shout. He just gave her an annoyed meow and proceeded to move towards the back where the hazardous wasteland was that Lucy nicknamed "The Danger Zone."

"Natsu, it's a journal, of course, it is! It's a private book for people to write on especially about their feelings." Natsu huffed at this and didn't speak for the next few moments. He just muttered, vexed at her accusation, "Fine, why is it such a big deal? Tunes are essential."

Lucy just shook her head and heeded a sign stating there was a 24 hour Target nearby.

"Natsu, make this exit, I need to get a few things."

 _Present_

She let Natsu keep that journal for his road trip playlist and tore her own entries - which was not really much, just random notes here and there - and found a cute starry journal that fit the bill for her new road trip entries.

She shut her book, just finishing with her entry. She was outside laying on the hood of the car. They were parked in the Target lot around 2 in the morning. Natsu was napping in the car with Happy on his lap this time, and she could hear their snores from the outside. _"His manners are bad even when sleeping. Wait... does that even count as manners?"_ She was outside trying to cool off from her anger with Natsu's outlandish behavior. She knew she acted like it was a bigger deal than it was. In fact, it was probably the thousandth journal she'd written on, but it was _privacy_ and morals that went against his argument. She exhaled soundly and observed the sky; she did miss the stars a bit. She was taken aback that she got over it faster than she expected, and even at all. It was like the freedom of being away from home unleashed her from the burden. She wished she had Natsu's phone to listen to Dreams again but she didn't want to deal with him. Well, she had to deal with the bastard _sometime_ for this road trip. She checked inside once more, and he was completely out in dreamland with a hazy smile and drool in the tips of his mouth. She really needed to wake him up to drive but he was so adorable.

Wait, _adorable_?!

" _Okay, Lucy you need to get that thought out of your head right now!"_ She took a deep breath yielding to her thoughts and hauled herself inside, shutting the door loudly. Not a peep from either boy or cat.

"Wow, deep sleepers, aren't they?" It was not true, Happy paid no attention to her anyway. Lucy had no other choice but to shake Natsu awake, because they couldn't sleep in this cold dank car for the next few hours. She shook his shoulder,

"Natsu."

He gave out an abrupt growl and still slept on. She shook a bit harder this time, he woke a little and slurred out,"Cold dick, lemme have 5 minutes."

Lucy regarded him that moment. Her curiosity peaked a little wanting to know who "Cold dick" was. but she internally shrugged it off.

"Umm Natsu? We need to go."

That was when Natsu opened his eyes a crack and was perplexed of his surroundings. It took him a literal minute to comprehend that he wasn't where he thought he was. He groaned out and stretched a little, seemingly at a daze. He bore his bleary eyes towards Lucy and asked a question she dreaded for the past two years.

"Can you drive for a bit?"

This stunned her; she knew this would come up but didn't expect it at the same time. She shook her head, too numb to answer. Natsu bounced it off probably thinking she didn't know how. She did _know_ , she just didn't _want_ to; another burden she dealt with but not as easy to get over like the stars. It was also the first time someone hadn't asked her why and she was thankful for that.

"Okay well, I am not up for driving in the interstate right now. We are going to have to stay the night here."

Lucy was not about to have that.

"W-W-Wait... H-here?"

Natsu's eyes widened a little with sincerity, probably wondering what he'd said wrong this time.

"Yeah... Why not?"

Lucy stammered some more and made incoherent sounds. Natsu only heard words like "not decent" "'cold" and "bathroom" from Lucy's flummoxed speech. Her face was red and puffy again; he didn't seem to like when that happened from the last experience.

The guy blew out a sullen exhale just done for the night and raked his hand on his face, "Well, what do you propose and can you speak clearly this time?"

Lucy's face ballooned at this when she looked up on her phone to the closest nicest hotel, at least in her price range. Natsu didn't intend to pay for a hotel when his original plan was to camp out in the cold. Thankfully, there was a nice 24 hour (this must be a road trip stop area) bed and breakfast inn not two blocks away. Natsu acknowledged her, started the car, and drove towards that direction.

–

Lucy was able to book through her phone and got a room with two full beds. She was pretty thrifty and didn't want to pay 70 more jewels for another room. She knew Natsu wasn't going to try anything. He didn't seem the type and her intuition was always dead on. They got the key from the lethargic inn employee. As soon as Lucy opened to the door, Natsu bustled inside, with cat and bag among him. He crashed in the nearest bed and a tell-tale snore came from the bastard, not a minute later. Lucy closed the door in a tired, cantankerous huff and practically dragged her feet to the bathroom.

* * *

Not ten minutes later after doing her nightly routine, she came out in her pjs and lugged herself toward the second bed. She glomped on it, covering herself with the blanket like a burrito. That's when she heard a muttered, "Thank you Lucy," and a muffled meow. She made a little smile and drift off to sleep.

" _Mama, what's your favorite constellation?"_

 _Both a younger Lucy and Layla were laying on the hill at the mansion gawking at the shimmering night sky._

 _"Hmmm, I love them all!" she answered with a laugh_

 _Lucy pouted. "Mama, that's not fair!"_

 _Her mom laughed a little harder in response._

 _She sobered up and was deep in thought. "Well, I can tell you my favorite time when I saw them."_

 _Lucy glowed with excitement at her mom's answer_

 _"Really?! When?!"_

 _Her mom smiled up to the sky and whispered softly, "The night you were born. The stars were shining so bright. Aquarius, Capricorn, Sagittarius, Pisces... They were all there saying hi. I pointed up from the balcony and you, my star, looked up and was glowing, just as you are now." She gazed back at her daughter who was smiling through tears. "That's when I knew you were my star, Lucy."_

 _"I love you, mama."_

Lucy woke up and felt revitalized. For a second, she had occupational hazard and was really surprised she slept through Natsu's bear (dragon? chainsaw?) snores. She sprung up, stretched the kinks away, and hummed to herself. She viewed her phone against the nightstand; it was thankfully charged due to Natsu's car. It was around 8 in the morning, the same time yesterday that she began this adventure. She just stood there in awe. She couldn't believe that she was on an adventure with a famous college MMA fighter and with his rude cat, road tripping towards midcountry. This made her excited as well as flustered. Natsu was a bit much for her. She, of course never met people like him or in her class. It was something new for her to deal with;

 _"I guess it goes with the journey!"_ she surmised and gathered her things for a shower.

Mid shower, as she was lathering and rinsing her hair, she grasped what she was humming. It was something her mom hummed to her when she was little. She smiled idyllically and felt a warm feeling gathered in her chest. For once in her life, she felt so happy and so free.

The song could have been what her mom created, but she had a feeling it wasn't and decided right there to make it her life's journey to find what song it was.

She continued to hum away and not notice that Natsu had walked in, half asleep with cloudy eyes, headed towards the toilet to pee. It was around that time Lucy finished with her shower. She went and grabbed a towel when she took in Natsu boring his eyes ahead at the wall, disregarding her presence. Her eyes bugged out and she let out a scream loud enough for the entire inn to hear.

–

Not too soon after, Lucy found herself at a breakfast buffet with Natsu and Happy eating their "fair" share. She was pretending she didn't notice them playing with her food. Mr. Mallak, her etitique teacher was probably in hell with her mannerisms the past two days. She really didn't give a _shit_. She set her gaze on the two monster eaters, not finished from their dozen courses of food. She was secretly pleased that there was still a footprint on Natsu's face after the shower catastrophe.

After the well-timed kick, thankfully after he was done with his business, she sat Natsu down with Happy, who both regarded her like two children getting yelled at by a parent. Natsu had rebutted during her scold fest that she was being mean about it.

Her jaw nearly dropped in shock at the sheer idiocy of the comment and she indignantly replied, "You need to respect boundaries, Natsu!"

Of course, after she simmered down to a bit of between annoyance and weariness, she realized that he must have not known where he was. At least that what she told herself, he did have the appearance of being half asleep. She didn't want to apologize; her pride wouldn't let her. But she wouldn't blame Natsu for the weary stare he gave her.

"You're weird, Lucy. Why are you messing with your food like that?"

She'd soon have more than enough sighs to create a hot air balloon after this trip is done with.

Finally, they hit the road headed towards Hakobe National Park.

"Hakobe like the _Mount Hakobe_? Does that mean we're near Magnolia already?" Lucy queried with excitement.

Natsu rolled his eyes and scoffed, "No, the _national park_ not the _mountain_ ," like it was obvious and Lucy needed geography lessons for where they were going. He proceeded to put on some tunes for the trip and entered the interstate with tense silence from him.

So far the relationship was just made of _tension_ , bitterness and snarky repertoire with Happy meow comments included. Lucy was just not used to a person like Natsu and it looked as if it went the same for Natsu.

An outside viewer would have seen this couple as opposing points on the spectrum. Both were fiery in different aspects; Lucy had formal behavior which Natsu didn't have. Natsu was as careless as she was careful. She planned he went with the flow. One respecting aspect was that he did tend to listen to her, well, at least _sometimes_. Lucy thought maybe she should try to be understanding; it was something her mother had taught her.

 _"Kindness comes a long way my star,_ " her mother would say. Sadly, she'd try but patience wasn't her strong suit, which she inherited from her father.

A familiar tune filled the car, with an accompaniment of strings and percussion. Lucy's eyes widened in amusement and surprise.

 _"You're beautiful, that's for sure_

 _You'll never ever fade_

 _You're lovely but it's not for sure_

 _That I won't ever change"_

Lucy hummed along with a subtle smile. This was a great song. But she couldn't hold her surprise for too long.

"I can't believe you have this song in your tunes!"

She shouldn't be that surprised, he had an array of music from nearly every decade and genre. But this took the cake for her for some reason.

"Why are you so shocked? I am a _huge_ Furtado fan!" Natsu's weariness became exasperation. "Look! Even Happy loves her." He pointed back towards the Danger Zone. And he was right, the cat looked like he was in true bliss. Lucy made a face at that. Who knew that cats liked Nelly Furtado? She was pretty damn astonished by this to be honest. Natsu seemed to be bugged by her surprise a little and started singing the chorus offkey on purpose. Lucy just tried to ignore it but she couldn't help but laugh at the scene where Natsu was joined by Happy in this ridiculousness.

Unbeknownst to Lucy, Natsu saw her fit of giggles and the wariness in his eyes disappeared into gentle curiosity and adoration.

–

Lucy viewed previous texts from Jade and Yukino. Her father had _dared_ contact Jade after her lack of response. Jade used her royal status in response and raised a stern voice towards the man, telling him Lucy was unwell from the trip over. This made Lucy feel utterly relieved and very pleased. She loved her friends, especially when they told her father off. She couldn't help but giggle.

"Why are you laughing?" Natsu asked curiously.

Lucy just waved her hand as if to say "Oh, it's nothing."

"Just my friends being silly."

Natsu lifted a brow in response. That's when the car started to shudder for half a minute, and pulled to a stop.

"Oops." Natsu looked sheepish and scratched the back of his head nervously.

Lucy felt herself in a panic at his expression. "What do you mean 'oops?'"

"As in I forgot to get gas before the interstate?" He let out a nervous laugh.

She facepalmed at this; they were two teenagers with a cat (or maybe Natsu's case, a _child_ ) on a road trip. Of course, there were important, essential things that were going to be forgotten! She surveyed the area and was a tad afraid. They were practically in the middle of fucking nowhere, desert in the middle of the afternoon. She noticed the car was getting a bit warmer than she'd like. Natsu took action, grabbed his backpack and went towards the trunk. This jarred Lucy from her internal thoughts and she rushed to join him.

Natsu started to walk towards the direction they were heading with Happy (on his shoulders) and a gas container in toll.

"Natsu, wait! Where are you going?"

Natsu stared straight ahead with a blank look on his face. "Where do you think? To the nearest gas station," he said in a "duh" tone.

She caught up with him, panting, the sun seeming to glaring at her. She was grateful she added SPF in her morning beauty regime not too long ago.

"Without me?"

He pondered that and held out the keys. "Oh yeah, here's the keys. Keep _The Dragon_ safe."

She didn't bother to get them and was appalled by his nonchalant manner. "You are going to leave me in the car in this blistering heat?!"

He looked confounded. "It's hot?" he questioned as if it was going to rain on a sunny cloudless day.

Lucy furiously nodded and pointed towards the weather app in her phone.

"Oh sorry! I usually don't feel the heat. I am immune to it, I guess." He shrugged and walked on carelessly, pressing on the car lock on his key just to be safe.

 _"No wonder they call him Salamander! It explains the multiple scarves especially the furry creature he had on. Also prone to explosives it seems."_ She thought irately.

At least a minute into the walk, she remembered something, Capricorn and her mom helped set her up with driver's insurance. She nearly jumped up and down in joy as she went through her phone to find the number. _Horogium insurance_ , like _Triple A_ they will help with your gas needs!

"Natsu, wait, I have a solution!" She seemed so giddy at this discovery that he stopped to hear her explanation,

"Well, I have _Horogium_ , which if we can wait, we can get our gas and not walk this dreaded desert!" She felt so smug at this. Natsu didn't seem amused, though.

"Really? But isn't it supposed to be for a car and driver?"

This made her smile drop a little. "Umm yeah…"

He furrowed his brow. "I thought you didn't know how to drive?"

"Umm, I do, but I don't drive." Her demeanor slumped.

"Oh, no worries," he waved it off as he raised up his phone,

"We are not but two miles to the closest gas station. Come on."

He turned about and continued on. She bit her lip in thought, and felt a bit down. She can't say she didn't try as she shrugged and followed him with a little slower, sadder step than before.

–

By a quarter mile later, Lucy regretted wearing only her flip flops, but was happy to be wearing a skirt and a t-shirt. She was dying, dragging her feet and nearly keeling over. Natsu took a notice when she meant to stop for a second but was really a minute.

"Lucy, catch!"

She looked up to see a water bottle thrown fiercely in her direction. She was lucky she didn't fall over when she caught it. She did shake her hand a little to wave off the stinging pain she got after.

"Thanks!" She smiled affectionately and drank a huge gulp of it. It was a tad warm but very refreshing. She caught up to him, smiling the rest of the way, not seeing the hint of blush he had in his cheeks.

At last, the gas station was in sight. Lucy resisted the urge to kiss the ground at her feet; she didn't want to hear Natsu calling her weird once again. Lucy got her phone out to see the time. It was a quarter of 2. This trip was delayed at least another day due to lack of gas. She set a reminder on her phone to ask Natsu about gas for later in the trip.

They entered the deserted station, feeling a little cooler air from the store inside. She made a happy sigh as she wandered off to see what was in stock. She went towards the freezer to view the cold selection as Natsu called in for some service. Natsu talked to the gas attendant with a large light brown hair pompadour and a scowl who was smoking a pipe. He told him about their situation, and the attendant nodded understandingly, not even looking like he was judging Natsu's appearance. Lucy notably wondered how strange people can be.

She got herself a Peach Tea Snapple and a Starbucks coffee drink for later. She went over to the counter with a polite smile, the attendant seem to dote on her for some reason. She really hoped he didn't know who she was. That was when she saw him stare downward, and she squinted her eyes a little at this when a throat cleared the tension.

"And these too," Natsu added setting his gaze on the drinks Lucy wanted. He sounded a little peeved. He had a bunch of snacks on there as well, and Lucy recognized that he got her favorite chips and candy too.

"Hey, Lucy, those drinks can dehydrate you, get a water as well." This dazzled Lucy a little and she gave him a grin. It was nice of him to think of that. He seemed to stare down the attendant didn't think of it as anything, just happy he'd paid a thought to her health. _"Plus he's an athlete, he should know,"_ she thought profoundly. As she went to get a couple of waters for her and Natsu, she felt a presence just towards the end of the store. She peered about to see a little boy, shy of seven, in a gloomy state, sitting on a step of a porch and staring out the open distance. Not one to leave a poor soul alone, she went over to see what was wrong with the boy.

"Hello, I'm Lucy," she said kindly.. The midnight haired boy didn't bother to look up, just sadly licked his ice cream bar.

"Hey," the boy shyly muttered out.

"What's your name?" She sat next to him giving him an open smile.

"Romeo." He was pouting a little, it would have been adorable if it wasn't so sad.

"So, Romeo, what's got you down in the dumps?" she said compassionately

"My dad." Lucy furrowed her brow in confusion,

"The guy working the store?"

Romeo let out a snort. "No that's my uncle Wakaba. The perv." He muttered out the latter.

That's when Lucy let out her own snort, not surprised by this.

"Anyway, my dad is missing."

This shook Lucy a little, the kid just told it to her straight similar to the pink haired guy inside.

"Oh, for how long?" He finally looked at her,

"For two days. He went to tow a car over in the forest nearby and got lost. He hasn't answered his phone or anything."

"Two days! Are they out looking for him?"

"That's the thing! We contacted the sheriff and the highway patrol and they are not answering any of our calls."

He was a little hurt by this, poor kid. This was really unfair. Sure they were out in the middle of nowhere but there should have been help available especially for a man with a young boy. She had to talk about Jade about this. This was really upsetting to say the least. It would be hilarious to see that phone call too. This time she'd be sure to be there to witness it. She loved it when Jade took charge, especially to assholes like her dad.

Suddenly there was a slam inside the store. She viewed inside, seeing Natsu in a fit of anger and confronting Wakaba about something. She ran in, leaving Romeo puzzled about what was going on.

"Natsu! What-"

He didn't seem to pay attention. He was blind with rage

He pointed to Romeo. "And you did nothing? That poor boy needs his father!"

"You got to understand, this store is our place of business! Someone needed to watch it!" Wakaba said, trying to defend himself. This made Lucy judge him a bit more.

"You could've closed it for the day. What's the loss of one day to search for someone?" Lucy added.

That was when Natsu walked over to Romeo and ruffled his hair. He walked out to get the gas needed for _The Dragon_. He was fuming from what Lucy saw, like he was going to combust in flames if he wasn't too careful. Lucy ran after him, a bit afraid to see what he was going to do.

"Natsu! Wait!" He was heading back towards the direction the car was in. She swore this was the billionth time she'd asked him to hold up for her. She really needed to get some exercise after this. "Natsu! What are you doing?"

He turned to her a little to see what she had to say. "I'm going after him."

He didn't even stare at her. His face was contorted a little and his eyes were haunted,

Lucy blew out air, and nodded. "Okay." He took a step when she added, "I'm coming with you." He looked like he was about to argue, so she said, "No buts! I'm coming with you and that's _final_. You need a second person for this, a partner to help you out. I don't care if you are trained in these situations with mortal combat and whatever else you do, you need someone with you, okay?"

His eyes widened at her last word a little in wonder. Then, at an instant, his face went blank after like it hadn't happened, and he reluctantly nodded. They stood there, silent for a minute and stared at each other heatedly, trying to see through one another. Lucy averted her eyes first with heat flushing her cheeks.

"Okay, well let me get the info and a map for the forest. Also the things we got from the store. Why don't you load the car with gas and meet me here?"

He nodded once again and swiftly headed back towards the car. Hopefully, he didn't abandon her because the guy seemed determined to find Romeo's dad like it was his own dad. She saved that thought for a later date.

She had to ask Natsu to get the car because she was still tired from the walk and really needed to change her flip flops to sneakers for this. She went to get information from Wakaba who was a little scared from Natsu's harsh encounter. He gave it out straight away as predicted, and stared at her face only, like he was afraid that Natsu would pop in and fuck him up. Lucy appreciated that, and she tried not to giggle at Wakaba's fearful demeanor. She knew that people's strengths varied. Natsu was excellent at confrontation even if it was a bit wild. But also if it was about saving someone, he'd be there. As Romeo was giving her a few ice cream bars to add with their other merch in a bag, Strawberry milk, Banana as well as Milk (probably for Happy), she heard a honk. She gratefully grabbed the ice cream bars and patted Romeo.

"We will back sooner than you know it! You have our numbers to contact. So don't worry about a thing!"

Romeo's eyes teared up a little and he sniffed, "Okay!"

–

Lucy ran outside, beaming at the sight of Natsu waiting for her in the car, even though he did seem a little impatient, understandably as it was a rescue mission.

She clambered in, clicking on her seatbelt, grabbing a hold of the bars for Natsu to choose from. He seemed befuddled and a little grateful, and chose the banana one. Lucy grabbed a bowl she'd seen inside the danger zone, and unwrapped and placed the milk one on it for Happy. At the moment she placed it in the middle of the danger zone for him to sit and eat, the cat jumped off Natsu's shoulder, sniffed at it and licked some and seemed content about it. He meowed at her also gratefully.

Natsu drove off in a hurry with Lucy holding the map telling him which direction he should take. "Yeah I know the way," he responded briskly,

"You've been in the area before?" she queried a little flummoxed at his response,

"Yeah I've trained there before," he said and that was the end of it at least for that subject.

Not 2 minutes later, for once, Natsu was _savoring_ his food,

"This is so good, hell it would be better with some chili and lime powder!"

Lucy wrinkled her nose a bit at that but internally shrugged and thought _"What the hell? You have to be understanding about something with him."_

"Like _Mangonadas_?" She said casually, and that beaming grin appeared again.

"Hell yes! That shit is awesome!"

He brightened up instantly, and that made her smile back.

"Maybe after this mission we should get some?" she offered a truce from bitterness and tension in the past several hours of this trip.

"Yes! We definitely should."

He smiled on, and put the volume louder for this next song which seemed to be a Queen song.

" _Flash! Ahhhhhh! we'll save the universe!"_

This time, he didn't sing to annoy her, just making her sing along with the chorus to get Macao Conbolt back to his son pronto.

Awhile later, after Natsu's spot on singing to _Como De Flor_ \- the guy had hell of a voice - they sighted the Hakobe National Park sign. Natsu snickered a bit.

"What?" Lucy dared to question it.

"I can't believe you didn't know there was a national park."

Lucy groaned at the childish brat. "For your information, shut the fuck up."

She felt in an instant that Jade would be proud of her for that. _"Rebel Lucy for the win,"_ she'd probably say.

–

Within two miles of the park, they made it off road where supposedly Macao disappeared to. According to Wakaba (this made her internally giggle, it was so close to _wikipedia_ ), the client in need called and yelled at them for not arriving where they were at. They directly told him that they'd call _Horogium_ which they should have done in the first place. She let out a snort when she was being told this part.

Lucy recounted all this to Natsu who also cackled at the _wikipedia_ joke and client/ _Horogium_ story. He nodded knowingly at her when she said what direction Macao was heading towards.

"I think I know where he is," he murmured more to himself than to Lucy.

He drove on within a mile and stopped near a shady tree.

Natsu got out, carrying his backpack and surveyed the area towards the left and squinted like he knew what was there. Lucy met up with his side and looked up to see what he was thinking.

"I gotta go alone."

Her eyebrow went straight up at this "But Natsu, you can't do this on your own, you need-"

Natsu grit his teeth and glared, trying to hold in his anger. He breathed heavy air through his nose trying to calm it down.

"Lucy, it's better to be here because I need someone on call just in case. Plus I know this place like the back of my hand, you didn't even know it existed."

He set a milder gaze on her. Lucy gulped and nodded hesitantly, "Okay, that's good thinking."

He gazed at her with an expression she couldn't name, and said, "I'll be back soon."

He walked towards the left side and disappeared within the trees. Lucy went inside the car listlessly. She stared at the driver's side, seeing the keys were still in the ignition and heard a silent hum in the background because Natsu took his phone. She knew there was no other way if she wanted to help the best she could. She guessed this was a good option, but what if Natsu got hurt and lost too? Would she drive away for help with a mere map at her fingertips? She would be scared to drive anyway. She was dreading being alone, when she heard a little meow in the back, like it was said to comfort her. She peeked over at the danger zone seeing Happy licking his chops after finishing up his milk ice cream.

She smiled at the sight and looked at the back in horror. She smirked. Oh, she knew what to do to make the time pass.

–

She couldn't believe how much crap there was in the back; it was like hell on earth. She was thankful that they were in the shade while she worked hard to clean it up. She only had wet ones to clean the gunky spots that she feared to be radioactive waste. She had some plastic bags and rubber bands on her hands to cover up for germs.

Happy was scrutinizing her and making random meow comments, which were probably against her cleaning. He seemed to be a bit disgruntled that his little area was getting cleared out. It was true about them being creatures of habit. She was also grateful to find trash bags in her luggage to put the horrifying crap inside.

She pondered where to put the trash at and decided the trunk was the safer option. She didn't want to trash the nature of this park, that was just plain rude. She opened the trunk which was spacious for a Civic but perfect for 3 bags of trash. She stuffed them inside when a little silver thing caught the light.

It was inside of Natsu's luggage, and curiosity got to her as she zipped open the bag a little further. There was photo with silver frame of a young boy and a man, both with the same grin and the man making bunny ears on the boy. She recognized the boy instantly as there was no discounting that shade of pink for hair. It was Natsu, probably about the same age as Romeo with a man who was in his late 30s with red hair and scars on his temple.

She was trapped in her thoughts when she heard a familiar voice calling out to her.

She shook out of it and stared towards the direction Natsu once went in. She slipped the photo back, shutting the truck in and rushed over to see where Natsu was calling her. She caught a glimpse of Natsu looking a little tired for once while holding against his shoulders an unconscious midnight haired and tanned skinned man who was covered with injuries.

"Lucy?" He caught her in view. "A little help?"

Lucy ran over to help pick up Macao and headed towards the car. She told Natsu to wait there for a second as she opened the back. Natsu regarded the back with a raised brow.

"Well, where else would we put him?"

He muttered, "Point," and they both placed him inside gently.

Natsu leaned against the car, looking worse for wear and trying to catch his breath. Lucy went over to her side to get water which Natsu took appreciatively and gulped it down.

After he caught his breath, he said, "I found him at a nearby ravine. He was half awake, a little delirious, and making ape sounds for some reason."

Lucy seemed amused by that.

"So, I gave him some water to hydrate him. He thought I was some wizard trying to murder him at first."

" _Okay this is sad but funny._ " she thought with mirth.

"I knew he was going to be there because some people turn the wrong direction and head to that ravine. He luckily survived it, but his tow truck was nowhere to be found. Must have crashed in there because it's pretty deep."

Lucy looked befuddled and asked, "So how did you find him?"

Natsu snickered. "Let's just say the ape sounds were pretty loud."

Lucy just palmed her face, "God, Natsu, I am really trying not to laugh here."

He waved it off as if it wasn't insulting."Don't worry about it, he'll be fine, but he broke a few ribs so we need to head to the nearest hospital. Other than that, he just needs a little more food and water," he said as he walked over to the driver side.

"You seem to know what to do in this situation," she pointed out

"Believe it or not this isn't my first rodeo! In fact, I've been in a Hangover situation, except this was for my friend's 21st. He got so fucked up drunk!" His speech got more passionate by the minute. "And his girlfriend went insane and threatened our nuts to find the bastard. We found him in the middle of Magnolia forest passed out with a broken leg. The funny thing was he was still drunk and telling us secrets about Fairy Tail. Like who hooked up with whom and how his girlfriend was a demon in the sack." He was close to tears laughing recalling all of this. "That didn't go over too well. Couch for him the rest of the week that's for sure."

At the end of Natsu's story, she was laughing her head off. This was the first time she heard Natsu tell a story so intensely and obviously enjoying it.

"You seemed to love talking about Fairy Tail."

He grinned. "We look out for our friends always, and well, you're a friend Lucy, and very nice, so might as well tell you!"

He started the car and made a u-turn back to the gas station's direction, he didn't seem to notice his front passenger, how flushed she was and close to tears to hear that from him. She'd only known his for a couple days and already this fiery guy was more than meets the eye.

–

Lucy looked over to Macao mid trip, worried about his condition. She called on the way to the gas station to tell the good news. Wakaba said the ambulance was on their way and would probably be around when they got there. Macao appeared calm in his sleep, so she queried Natsu on why he seemed so.

"Oh, I gave him some ibuprofen to relieve the pain."

Her brow furrowed even more.

"Is that safe?"

He nodded. "As long as you give them something to eat and drink, the person would be fine."

Again, not his first rodeo and he seemed to speak from experience.

"I learned that from my aunts actually. I was prone to injuries when I was little and sometimes I'd get a scolding from Porlyusica but Grandine was always sweet about it."

Lucy's eyes became circles.

"... Porlyusica and Grandine Marvel are your aunts?"

He was befuddled by her question

"Yep! Why?"

She ignored that question, and said, "The next I'm going to hear is that Gildarts Clive is your cousin or something."

Natsu laughed at that.

"Nope, he's my mentor! Gajeel is my coz."

For some apparent reason, this made Lucy want to hit her head in the dashboard. Gajeel Redfox was Natsu's _cousin_ , the winner of last year's UFC cagefighting championship that Capricorn fangasmed about. She shouldn't even care. She was famous herself if you looked at the wealthy side of things.

–

They did reach the gas station in time for the ambulance. Romeo gave both Lucy and Natsu the biggest hug and ran to join in on the ride. Wakaba, without his pipe this time, went in as well.

"I asked my wife to take over for the night. My friend needs me."

She also made a face when he said "wife," and seeing that look made him sheepish.

" _Poor gal, she has to deal with that asshole."_

She asked where the trash bin was and he pointed at the back out the store. She got the keys from Natsu to open the trunk and went over to throw away the hazardous trash. She dusted off her hands and used two wet ones to clean up the germs from the waste.

She went into the store to see if there was any cleaning supplies, meeting Wakaba's wife Maria. She was a large woman, and probably at least taller than Wakaba himself, with pretty light brown curls, and fully figured. She gave Lucy a bright warm smile, greeting her. She smiled back and made small talk about her adventure so far. Maria made numerous comments on her husband and how much he stayed here when he wasn't even needed. Lucy shook her head, judging the bastard a little more for leaving his wife here so he could escape.

" _What an asshole."_

Then Maria spoke about how grateful she was that they found Macao for them. Lucy blushed and claimed it was all Natsu, and she just helped with the information. Maria still praised her for it and added, "I know my husband is something else, but he tries his hardest for Macao, even when he isn't needed, he still provides assistance."

Maria then followed her out with the cleaning supplies and gave her some food she made for them on the go. Lucy packed it in along with the cleaning supplies in the truck for future cases.

Maria went to greet her husband goodbye just in time as they were leaving. Lucy and her waved goodbye to them and watched the ambulance until it turned into a speck in the distance.

She gave Lucy a big hug, squishing against her large figure, telling her to be careful and take care, and went back into the store.\

–

It was close to sunset and for some reason that made Lucy a little more exhausted, even though Natsu did all the work for finding Macao.

" _It must have been the walk."_ She internally speculated as she spied over to Natsu, who was staring at the sunset while he laid on the hood of his car.

Natsu was rarely peaceful, but she recalled another similar (cute) moment the night before with a DS in hand and Happy watching, concentrating. This time, it was different than before because he was always loud and proud or even moody and tense. Watching him scratch his relaxing cat's ears made him seem gentle for once. He looked over to see her staring with a heated gaze, and this made Lucy blush a little.

"So… umm ready to go?" she dared to question.

He gave her that look from before, the one she didn't know of and grinned. He jumped down on the pavement with ease and wrapped Happy around his neck. "Yeah, let's go, we need to get to Magnolia quickly now right?" he said as he walked over to her.

She regarded him a soft smile, and he looked at her in wonder at her expression. Something about it must have been different.

"Yeah, I guess," she said wistfully, walking over to the passenger side

"Yes! Our adventure starts again. We'll be heading to Magnolia in the morning, I know just the shortcut!"

They both got in and clicked on their seatbelts, Lucy felt like the journey shouldn't end so soon. She needed more time but then her father was waiting for her, and she couldn' this was her freedom, the summer before her dreadful life started.

"Umm Natsu?"

He looked up fiddling with his phone, probably adding another song to his playlist.

"Yeah?"

She gulped nervously,

"Is the shortcut a scenic route?"

He looked away, pondered on that and shook his head.

"No, not really, just a lot of road and nothing to look at, why?"

She seemed sad at the prospect. "Is there one?" she asked.

He nodded,

"Yeah it's a lot of prairie and mountains with tons of stars in the sky but it'll take another day to get to Magnolia."

She took in sight the first stars twinkling into view. They were losing the light from the sun, dimming for the night ahead and the stars were such a vision.

"Such a night like this…" she whispered to herself and questioned "Is this the road?"

He nodded again.

"Yeah and it passes by the forest as well. If you make an exit, it'll head to the prairies and mountains. It is an amazing sight."

He whispered the last part with a soft tone. He dwelled upon it like recalling some fond memories. That settled it, she was going to do one day more. Screw her father, screw Sawarr and screw her upcoming life, she needed this adventure!

She smiled with mirth. "Well then… care to make a little detour?"

* * *

 _ **Natsu's Playlist #2 (aka Natsu loves Nelly Furtado, So does Happy, suck it Lucy!)**_

 _Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes (a must, can't deny Jack and Meg)_

 _Lose Control by Missy Elliott feat Ciara and Fatman Snoop (Can't help it! Also dancing is required!)_

 _Space Jam by Quad City DJ (Lucy made a smile at this one and yelled out "Childhood!")_

 _Harder Better Faster Stronger by Daft Punk (my workout jam and also staying awake)_

 _Sing by Blur_

 _I'm like a bird by Nelly Furtado (Tried to annoy Lucy with this, she just laughed)_

 _Decade under the influence by Taking Back Sunday (Road trip tune about exes, I don't have one but there's a certain someone who is annoying like one right next to me!)_

 _Oblivion by Bastille_

 _Summertime by Billie Holiday_

 _No Scrubs by TLC (for those pricks out there)_

 _Flash! by Queen (Team Natsu on a mission!)_

 _Cruel Summer by Bananarama (Lucy sang along with this one)_

 _Como La Flor by Selena (Selenas! Great movie and awesome singer, sobbed at the end, who didn't? I know my asshole cousin did as well the macho bastard)_

 _Piece of my heart by Janis Joplin (it's a requirement to scream along)_

 _The Great Escape by Boys like Girls (Lucy loves this one, we're escaping for one more day! yosh!)_

 **Follow starsblazing on tumblr for more updates and info about this fic!**


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